05
Each of us has a destiny to fulfill, a life to live, a work to perform, a calling to serve, a self to express, exhibit, incarnate, a divine spark to nourish into a flame of glory and wonder so that no one can tell where we stop and God starts. Sounds a bit much, I know. But, there is Jesus saying, "Come, follow me." And, "Greater things than I have done, you will do." He's saying, "Get out of your own way and be who you are! And allow the Mystery of Being to come to life in you in ways that are uniquely yours to bring forth!" Carl Jung said, “In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential that we embody. If we do not serve that, life is wasted.” Our destiny is to be who we are at the core of ourselves, who we are capable of being, who we are here to be, to become. Jung also said, "There is in each of us another, whom we do not know." This Other is "the essential that we embody." Whom we live to know and to serve with our life. We do that consciously by paying attention to the unconscious clues that are always winking at us, trying to catch our eye. Our life is like that of a fairy tale, or of Luke Skywalker, and the clues are lying all about us. Help is on every side, and the audience is groaning because we won't see what is right there. So, we have to learn to stop, look and listen. What are we missing? What did we dream last night? What makes our little heart sing? What brings us to life in a way that makes us forget what day it is, and not know how long we have been doing the thing we love to do? What keeps coming back around? What won't go away? What do we keep pushing aside, only to have it pop up again in a month or a year? What do we find ourselves thinking about? What do we wish we could do? What do we keep finding excuses for not doing? There is a secret cause dying for us to find it, claim it, live it as our own dream dreaming we would adopt it as our own life. It is our destiny. We have to work it into our life! We have to find ways of being who we are! We have to honor the dream that dreams of us! We would be most remiss if we did not.
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04
We can make anything better or worse by the way we respond to it. That being the case, you would think we would study up on our response ability and how to perfect it, becoming experts in responding appropriately to every occasion. You couldn't be more wrong. Why is that? Why don't we make a concerted effort to live the best possible life under the circumstances? Why don't we all swear to the One Who Knows within each of us, an oath of fealty, loyalty, allegiance and devotion, that we will, with their help, make our best effort to respond to the events of our life in ways that have the best chance of turning things to the good of ourselves, our circumstances, and all those concerned, by simply doing what is called for moment-by-moment all our life long? Why don't we do that? I'm serious. Why don't we?
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03
The single thing that will make the most difference for the good in our life is growing up. The single thing that makes growing up impossible is our infantile desire to have our way. Get our way out of the way and everything falls into place exactly as it needs to for our life to be exactly what it needs to be. This is the truth at the heart of all good religion. What did native Americans mean when they said "It's a good day to die"? Good for whom? Good for what? Good in terms of what? Certainly not in terms of having their way! But what else is there? How good can not having our way be? You see how far from good religion we are. Religion for us is nothing but a ploy to get our way (That would be heaven when we die). We give to get in our religion. Which isn't giving at all, but dealing, gaming. Whatever we do in our religion, whatever we give, isn't a gift, it is an investment, that we expect to pay off handsomely in the world to come. Having our way is the only way in our world. Growing up will have to wait. Forever.
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02
There is within each of us a self who knows and a self who thinks it knows. And it is our place to know which is which, and throw in with the self who knows. This is a problem because the self who thinks it knows, is sure it knows. Is convinced it knows. Knows it knows. But. It does not know. And does not know that it does not know. It is our place to know that one self does not know as much as it thinks it knows. And to make inquiries. We are to ask the questions that beg to be asked, and say the things that cry out to be said to both selves, and see which self does the best job answering and retorting. Put the selves to the test! "What makes you think that what you think is so is so?" "What do you base your beliefs on?" "By what authority do you say what you just said?" "How does what you just said jive with what you said five minutes ago?" With what you said yesterday?" "What do you have at stake-- what do you have to gain or lose-- in things being the way you say they are?" "Who would be most proud of you-- the most happy with you-- for saying what you just said? For thinking what you think is so?" "Who are you trying to please?" ... And on like that, getting to what is behind what each self "knows," or knows, is so. Do not take what either self says as truth without exploring it exhaustively for its validity. Make them say what is so about what they think is so. Talk it out. Make them come clean. The truth will shine through if you take the time to clear the window of perception by getting to the source of the perspective. Your place is to investigate what comes up from within in knowing what each knower knows-- and does not know. And deciding what to do about it.
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01
Fear, guilt and regret lock us into an ever-deepening and increasingly repetitive cycle of fear, guilt and regret. The more fearful, guilty and regretful we are, the more fearful, guilty and regretful we will be. It is up to us to turn the haunting Cronies away! "ENOUGH! I SAY ENOUGH!!!" Turning to stare them into silence and send them away, we step toward our own center and become the redeemer/savior of our own future and the life we have yet to live. We have to claim that future and that life, and secure them against the encroaching erosion of fear, guilt and regret. "BEGONE! I SAY BEGONE!!!" Has to be repeated with force for as long as it takes to be free, and settled into who we are, what we have done and failed to do, and what may happen to take everything away. Our work is to be "a wheel rolling/turning out of its own center" (Friedrich Nietzsche), grounded in our original nature, focused on seeing/doing what is called for in each situation as it arises with the gifts/daemon/virtues/ character/spirit/vitality/life that are ours to offer throughout the time left for living. This is the salvific orientation that stabilizes us and anchors us to the core of sincerity, balance and harmony, and enables us to live spontaneously, without contrivance, in responding to the needs of the moment, moment-by-moment forever.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 